Still Need Help for a 3D Lappy

[miketab]

I need a new laptop and I'm stillstill not too sure what to get... I'm going to be using it mostly for 3D Studio MAx, Maya, Viz, AutoCAD, etc, and I want to get a top of the line.

I looked at:
Dell Precision M70 (Workstation)
Alienware
BOXX
Eurocom
(Anyone know how good the last 3's service and warranty are?)

It's meant to be a desktop replacement, not a laptop (although under 8lbs would be nice)
I was wondering what other companies to look at, keeping in mind that I need reliable service and warranty like Dell's.

Here's the specs:
Quadro FX GPU or ATI's FireGL series.
17" widescreen, glossy display somewhat like the Sony Xbrite's.
7200RPM hard drive (60Gb or more)
2Gb RAM
Integrated wireless and Bluetooth
~$4k, not including tax

Thanks for answering
Mike

 

[fbrdphreak]

Wow, $4000 huh?
I would stay away from Alienware. I've never heard of BOXX, but Eurocom sounds familiar.
From what you listed, I would go with the Dell. BTW, the M70 doesnt have a 17" screen, it has a 15.4. If the 15.4" is an option for you, check out HP's business line. They make some good stuff from what I've heard.
I would say IBM 'cuz you can get some nice FireGL cards in them, but they max out at 15" screens (UXGA).
Hope this helps

 

[nellienelson1]

i would go for the dell, my cousin has one with quadro graphics, and the native resolution of the screen (15.4 i admit) was 1900 by 1600 odd, truely amazing. and with 2gb and 2 ghz it would run like lightening, ny cousins had 1.7 and 1gb, and could run half life 2 (not cad i admit) add full detail and quick fps. awesome machines hald decent battery life too.

jus my 2p

 

[miketab]

Thanx guys, yeah, the dell's there cause I've been with them for years, and already know their service, so I could deal with the smaller screen if nobody else's service is the same level of quality.

 

[inspiron8200guy]

I'd go for Dell too. It seems to me that the more that you shop with them the better support you get. I am still under complete care warranty considering my lappy was new as of 2002. By the way, I orderd a Mobility Radeon 9000 for it to replace the GeForce 4 440 Go. The Radeon benchmarks kick the crud out of the nVidia.

 

[mdahc]

Originally posted by: inspiron8200guy
I'd go for Dell too. It seems to me that the more that you shop with them the better support you get

Yeah, that's not really true at all. I've shopped quite a bit from and worked for them, and I've had horrible support, both when and after I was an employee. Anywho, although I hate to recommend Dell, the Precision M70 would probably be your best shot unless you don't mind the bulkier case on the BOXX/Eurocom Clevo ODM models, not to mention that even though those Clevo designs have 17" displays, they max out at 1680x1050 whereas the Precision maxes out at 1920x1200.

 

[trikster2]

"It's meant to be a desktop replacement, not a laptop (although under 8lbs would be nice) "

Are you going to actually use the laptop screen? With nice 19" LCDs going for $300 I'd get something with DVI and use that. Tons better than anything a laptop has to offer, especially if you get 2.

Just picked up the M70 and like it a lot. Mainly chose it over the XPS-2 because of the (free) port replicator/docking station. Also I have the option of getting the large docking station that can hold a second hard drive (or 2nd optical drive) and even a 1/2 length full height PCI card (finally 6 pin firewire for my laptop).

I just used my D800 for 4 weeks without a docking station and it drove me crazy. Sounds like a small thing but just hitting that one button is so much nicer than trying to plug/unplug everything (why can't USB connectors be shaped like firewire so you know which side is up?)